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Most white gentile europeans agree that there is no more racism and anti-semitism in Europe.

And who would know better?

by rootless2 on Sat Jun 27th, 2009 at 02:55:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
rootless2:
Most white gentile europeans agree that there is no more racism and anti-semitism in Europe.

Nonsense. Yes, there is racism and antisemitism in Europe. But most "white gentile Europeans" agree racism and antisemitism no longer exist?

That kind of assertion needs evidence to back it up.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 09:03:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's an interesting question given the unchallenged assertion to start this line of discussion.

My assertion is based on purely anecdotal evidence of my own experience and what I hear from other non-gentile visitors to or inhabitants of Europe. One of my former students, a Moroccan, who lives in Germany told me that he's learned to speak english when meeting people in order to get treated as an American instead of a Turk. I've repeated this story to a number of white european liberals and always get the same hostile response. None of the jews/arabs/turks/africans in Europe I've told this story to finds it at all surprising.

I also base it on the very angry defensive response here to criticism of Jostien Garder's anti-semitic op-ed.

by rootless2 on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 02:02:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
OK, I'mgoing to look like a nitpicker again, for redstar to get his rocks off jibing at, but what do you understand by gentile?
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 02:51:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"As in the King James Bible, from the 17th century onwards gentile was most commonly used to refer to non-Jews. This was in the context of European Christian societies with a Jewish minority."

Wikipedia. Are we conducting a class on the English language here?

Just to forestall what I guess, perhaps incorrectly, as the probable next move in this gambit, belief or non-belief is not material.

by rootless2 on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 03:06:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I thought gentile meant non-Jew but are you using it in the meaning of Christian by referring to a Moroccan Muslim as a non-gentile? Or am I assuming the Moroccan is Muslim when he's Jewish?

I'm an atheist - am I Gentile (non-Jew) or non-Gentile (non-Christian)? Or am I Christian because I was baptised?

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds; a man of deeds and not of words is like a garden full of turds — Anonymous

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 03:14:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, what I wrote was "Most white gentile europeans agree that there is no more racism and anti-semitism in Europe."

The Moroccan fellow I was discussing was neither white nor european.

But "gentile" is, of course, a context dependent word. Mormons use it for non-mormons. I don't think the way "gentile" is used historically in discussing European/Jewish/Christian divisions would include Morrocans, but ...

My point was that people in the normative/dominant cultural group don't see the same world that people in other groups see.

by rootless2 on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 03:34:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
what I wrote was "Most white gentile europeans agree that there is no more racism and anti-semitism in Europe."

I was reacting to what I hear from other non-gentile visitors to or inhabitants of Europe.

To be honest, the expression "non-gentile" sounds to me like "non-barbarian" or "non-gaijin".

My point was that people in the normative/dominant cultural group don't see the same world that people in other groups see.

No debate from me there.

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds; a man of deeds and not of words is like a garden full of turds — Anonymous

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 03:42:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
To be honest, the expression "non-gentile" sounds to me like "non-barbarian" or "non-gaijin".

Everyone is someone else's foreigner.

by rootless2 on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 04:04:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
rootless2:
But "gentile" is, of course, a context dependent word. Mormons use it for non-mormons. I don't think the way "gentile" is used historically in discussing European/Jewish/Christian divisions would include Morrocans, but ...
So "gentile means whatever I want it to mean"?

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds; a man of deeds and not of words is like a garden full of turds — Anonymous
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 05:42:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No. But in this discussion I am using it in the common way to refer to christian culture Europeans.
by rootless2 on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 04:57:21 PM EST
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Then you should say Christian-culture Europeans because "the usual meaning" is "non-Jew" as far as I can tell.

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds; a man of deeds and not of words is like a garden full of turds — Anonymous
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 29th, 2009 at 05:10:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"Most white gentile europeans agree that there is no more racism and anti-semitism in Europe."

Which is still unsubstantiated. They might not be aware of it's extent, they might not have felt it themselves, they might claim they weren't racist or anti-Semitic in spite of behaviour, but I don't know how many would say there wasn't racism or anti-semitism in Europe. There quite clearly is, just like there is in the US, or Russia, or the Middle East or Israel.

My point was that people in the normative/dominant cultural group don't see the same world that people in other groups see.

And neither sees the real world - both groups tend to have distorted perceptions.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Sun Jun 28th, 2009 at 03:46:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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